Almost every restaurant in Wake County gets an A, so the number on the grade card tells you more than the letter. From September 15, 2025 to September 14, 2026, 98.8% of routine restaurant inspections in the county scored 90 or higher. The median score was 97, a quarter of inspections scored 96 or lower, and one in ten scored 94 or lower. A 91 still earns an A, yet only 3.1% of inspections scored 91 or lower.
- Routine restaurant inspections: 4,581 at 2,627 restaurants
- Grade A (90 to 100): 4,527 (98.8%)
- Grade B (80 to 89.5): 53; grade C (70 to 79.5): 1, at 77.5
- Scores below 95: 15.5%; below 92: 3.8%
- Perfect 100: 182 inspections
- B or C restaurants re-inspected afterward: 31 of 54 low scores; 27 came back at 90 or higher
How North Carolina turns point deductions into a Wake County grade
Wake County scores restaurants under the state food rules, 15A NCAC 18A .2600. Rule .2662 sets the grades: an A is a score of at least 90, a B is 80 to under 90, and a C is 70 to under 80. Below 70, the permit is revoked immediately.
Rule .2661(d) caps the points for each of the 56 items on the inspection form. Hand washing can cost up to 4 points. Cold holding, hot holding, date marking and sanitizing food-contact surfaces can cost up to 3 each. Handwashing sinks cost up to 2, and dirty non-food-contact surfaces such as shelves cost up to 1. When a priority violation is new since the last inspection and the staff fix it during the visit, the inspector takes no more than half its points (.2661(e)). Inspectors can also cite a violation and take zero points, so a restaurant can score 100 with a few minor items on the report.
The grade card is replaced at every inspection and must hang where customers see it as they walk in (.2660). For how this compares with letter grades elsewhere, see how to read a restaurant health score in different cities.
How many Wake County scores land right at 90
Scores move in half points, and they bunch just above the A line. Over the year, 44 inspections scored exactly 90 and 24 scored 90.5, while 6 scored 89 and 1 scored 89.5. The data shows the pattern without the reason; the half-point rule for violations fixed on the spot is one way a score can stop at 90 instead of 89.
The average inspection listed 4.8 violations, including items cited without points. 140 inspections (3.1%) recorded no violations at all.
Wake County restaurant inspection scores by town
| Town | Inspections | Median score | Below 95 | Below 92 | 99 or higher |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raleigh | 2,182 | 97 | 21.1% | 5.2% | 15.0% |
| Morrisville | 313 | 97 | 16.0% | 5.8% | 12.8% |
| Wake Forest | 313 | 97 | 13.7% | 1.0% | 17.9% |
| Apex | 218 | 98 | 11.5% | 1.8% | 30.7% |
| Cary | 782 | 97.5 | 11.0% | 3.3% | 21.1% |
| Garner | 154 | 97.5 | 11.0% | 1.3% | 15.6% |
| Knightdale | 95 | 97.5 | 4.2% | 0.0% | 15.8% |
| Wendell | 72 | 98 | 4.2% | 2.8% | 13.9% |
| Fuquay-Varina | 143 | 98.5 | 1.4% | 0.0% | 29.4% |
| Holly Springs | 159 | 98.5 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 46.5% |
| Other towns | 150 | ||||
| All Wake County | 4,581 | 97 | 15.5% | 3.8% |
Towns are sorted by the share of inspections below 95, and the town is the mailing city in the county restaurant list. Towns with fewer than 60 inspections are grouped as other towns. In the smaller towns a cell can rest on two to four inspections, so treat those shares loosely. Different towns may also be covered by different inspectors, which can move a town’s numbers as much as its kitchens do. The fairest comparison is a Raleigh restaurant against other Raleigh restaurants. Durham County uses the same state scale if you are comparing across the county line.
The violations that cost Wake County restaurants the most points
| Form item | Cited at | Points taken at | Total points deducted | Max per item |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 Cold holding temperatures | 31.5% | 26.9% | 2,096 | 3 |
| 16 Food-contact surfaces cleaned and sanitized | 33.1% | 26.3% | 1,964 | 3 |
| 23 Date marking and disposal | 20.1% | 14.7% | 1,125 | 3 |
| 49 Non-food-contact surfaces clean | 41.4% | 31.6% | 896 | 1 |
| 15 Food separated and protected | 15.5% | 11.2% | 842 | 3 |
| 10 Handwashing sinks supplied and accessible | 19.3% | 12.5% | 604 | 2 |
| 55 Physical facilities maintained and clean | 35.0% | 22.1% | 594 | 1 |
| 47 Equipment approved and cleanable | 37.3% | 21.8% | 574 | 1 |
| 21 Hot holding temperatures | 10.1% | 7.5% | 552 | 3 |
| 28 Toxic substances stored and used | 16.5% | 11.2% | 539 | 2 |
| 8 Hands clean and properly washed | 5.4% | 4.5% | 418 | 4 |
| 2 Certified food protection manager | 10.8% | 9.1% | 415 | 1 |
“Cited at” and “points taken at” are shares of the 4,581 routine inspections, and the rows are sorted by total points deducted over the year. Cold holding and sanitizing lead because they are cited often and carry up to 3 points each. A 96 that lost three points on cold holding is a different report from a 96 that lost them on shelves, floors and storage.
How a Wake County restaurant raises a B
Under rule .2661(h), the permit holder can ask for a re-inspection to raise the grade, and the county must make an unannounced visit within 15 calendar days of the request. The request date is outside the public data, so the gaps below run from the low inspection to the re-inspection.
- 54 routine inspections at 50 restaurants scored below 90.
- 31 were followed by a re-inspection, a median of 20 days later. Most came within 6 weeks; three came 2 to 6 months later.
- 27 of those 31 re-inspections scored 90 or higher. Four stayed below 90.
- The one C (77.5, March 2026) was re-inspected 8 days later at 95.5.
- The other 23 low scores had no re-inspection by September 14, 2026, so the B stays until the next routine visit.
Other places handle a failed inspection very differently; what happens when a restaurant fails a health inspection compares the follow-up rules in four cities.
How to check one Wake County restaurant
- Open the Wake County public inspection table on the state environmental health site.
- Search by name or street address, then confirm the State ID so you have the right location of a chain.
- Open the latest inspection report and look at which items lost points, especially items 22, 16 and 23.
- Compare it with earlier reports. The same item losing points visit after visit says more than one low score.
Our Wake County inspection search guide walks through the search filters, and the North Carolina food inspection dashboard shows statewide counts.
How we counted
We downloaded three Wake County open data layers on October 25, 2026: Food Inspections, Restaurants in Wake County and Food Inspection Violations. The latest inspection in the download was September 14, 2026. Routine inspections are type “1 – INSPECTION” at places listed as “1 – Restaurant.” The restaurant list holds current restaurants only, so 196 inspections at places that have since closed or changed type are left out, and their scores may differ. Points per item come from the violations layer, matched by State ID and date. These are our calculations, not county statistics.
NC rules and Wake County data checked October 25, 2026.